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. 1987 Sep;84(17):6088–6092. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.17.6088

Human lens gamma-crystallins: isolation, identification, and characterization of the expressed gene products.

R J Siezen, J A Thomson, E D Kaplan, G B Benedek
PMCID: PMC299013  PMID: 3476929

Abstract

We have isolated the individual gamma-crystallins expressed in young human lenses and identified with which of the six known human gamma-crystallin genes they each correspond. We find that at least 90% of the gamma-crystallins synthesized in the young human lens are the products of genes gamma G3 and gamma G4. We demonstrate that gamma G4-crystallin undergoes a temperature-dependent phase separation, and we have measured the low-concentration branch of its coexistence curve (phase separation temperature vs. concentration) up to about 40 mg/ml. By comparison, we found no evidence of gamma G3-crystallin phase separating, even at lower temperatures and higher concentrations. This is consistent with predictions based on sequence homology between human and rat gamma-crystallins. The implications of these findings for human inherited and senile cataracts are considered.

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Selected References

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